Maye Musk says son Elon “just wants to do good” but steps “on a lot of toes”

Maye Musk, the mother of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, opened up about raising the world’s first trillionaire and her own personal journey in an interview with “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King on Wednesday. 

Musk recalled her son as a genius child who “just wants to do good in the world, but that means you stand on a lot of toes.” She said she believes he’s been treated unfairly by members of the public.

“People are mean. And they’re strangers, or they’re not accomplished themselves, and then they can do insults,” she said. “It makes me angry.” 

She said she wants people to know, “He does whatever is best for America and what’s best for the world,” adding, “And then, if we don’t listen, then let’s go to Mars” — his longtime goal for SpaceX. 

Elon Musk drew frequent criticism during his brief tenure as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which overhauled government organizations and slashed funding for many programs, including global aid services, during the first months of President Trump’s second term. Shortly after leaving the White House, Elon Musk blasted Mr. Trump online and criticized his “One Big Beautiful Bill,” leading to counterattacks from Mr. Trump and a rupture between the two men. Their relationship recently appears to have thawed.

Since leaving the federal government, Elon Musk has backed Republican candidates in the midterm elections and encouraged the construction of data centers. He also took his company SpaceX public, becoming the world’s first trillionaire. He said in December 2025 that he likely wouldn’t do DOGE over again, citing the negative public reaction. 

Maye Musk has said she knew from an early age that Elon was different. King noted he has said he’s on the spectrum, and asked his mother if she agreed.

“Well, when I read ‘the spectrum,’ maybe on one of the points that he’s a little awkward, yeah,” she said.

In her new memoir “Timeless,” Musk writes about challenging years when she left what she describes as an abusive marriage with three young children. She and the children, including Elon, moved from South Africa to Canada, where she started her own practice as a dietitian. 

“I didn’t know it was possible,” she said. “Until you just have enough, and you run away.” 

Juggling parenting, her practice and her studies for her first master’s degree was chaotic, she said. She and the children lived in a one-bedroom apartment and “slept on a lot of couches and floors,” she said. Throughout it all, they never complained. 

“I said to them, ‘Why did you put up with that?’ And they said, ‘Well, if we complained, would you listen?’ And I said ‘No,'” Musk recalled.

Decades later, Musk’s grown children bought her an apartment in New York City. That stability allowed her to reinvent herself again. 

She had worked as a model as a teen and done some modeling work part-time while she was earning her second master’s degree. But it was in her 70s that she really hit her prime. She became an iconic figure on runways and magazines, and became the oldest woman featured on the cover of “Sports Illustrated” in 2022. 

In her new memoir, Musk said she sees her age as a form of wisdom, not a barrier. 

“You just get wiser and, you know, you can say no,” Musk said. “When you feel like you are right for something, you can put yourself forward.”